In a million years or so...

"If you are a change agent, good times await you. If you hate change, and wish things would just slow down a bit, I have some bad news - ain't gonna happen. Very few of us will be around to see what happens in 2069. But our grandchildren will be."

Did you know it was late in the year of 1903 when the Wright Brothers kicked off the era of aviation? Just think - from December of 1903 to July of 1969 (a mere 65 1/2 years) we went from wishing we could fly, to walking on the Moon. If you think that is impressive, I am with you. Did you ever ponder what the next hundred years would hold? From 1969 to 2069? Since we are halfway through that hundred years, we know part of the answer. But what about the rest of the story?

Also in 1908, Henry Ford unleashed the Model T from the assembly line. "Sell the horses Ma! We got us a car!" In that short period of time from then to now, cars have become the main mode of transportation in most developed countries. The are ubiquitous - it is estimated today there are over a billion cars worldwide. Even though cars are everywhere, the day of the car is about to change. In fact, everything is about to change. We are about to reach a major milestone on our journey to 2069.

I addressed this before. I am convinced 2025 will be remembered by future historians as the start of a new renaissance age of technology. Everything is going to change in how we live. Plus, the speed of those changes will be lightening fast. Our beloved Model T will start morphing into a self driving pod - or something that can fly. We will be discovering more and more energy sources which will be abundant and less costly - hint: not wind. Everything we do, how we live, where we go, will be controlled by the internet. "I o T" (Internet of Things) will become so common, it won't even be noticed anymore.

I recently saw on the Science Channel that NASA is working on a new propulsion system which will allow us to send a probe to Proxima Centauri (one of our closest stars) by 2050. It will use a laser type of propulsion to get its speed up to half the speed of light. So even though Proxima Centauri is over four light years away, this probe could be there in about ten. That will be our first step in true interstellar travel. 

Meanwhile, in our own solar system, we will have bases on the Moon and Mars, and will be mining the asteroids. Robots will be commonplace on Earth as well as in space, and AI will be in just about everything.

How different will things be? Kids who are in school at that time (that is, if schools still exist) and study history, will think we lived like cavemen in 2019. They will wonder how people today could live the way we do.

Why do I bring all of this up? If mankind can make the progress we have since the early 1900's to now, just imagine where mankind will be in 2100. Or 3100 - a thousand years later. Right now, we are racing forward to 2025. As different as things will be six years from now, that is only the beginning to wave after wave of huge changes. 

If you are a change agent, good times await you. If you hate change, and wish things would just slow down a bit, I have some bad news - ain't gonna happen. Very few of us will be around to see what happens in 2069. But our grandchildren will be.

As for us in 2019, the future is ours to make or break. I am banking on we make it. 

Again - Which Witch is Which?

"All this being said, with Ms. Nancy holding the gavel, none of the people's business is going to get done until at least 2020. If the Republicans do not take back the House, it will be even longer."

Come on Bird! Stop picking on poor old Ms. Nancy again! You know she is low fruit on the tree! Yes, she is. Plus - she is about as transparent as a pane of glass. But this last thing she said - it was a doozy. In fact, it was the dooziest of all doozies. To take impeachment off the table? After all the pomp and circumstance leading up to this? If you think there was much more to this - you are right.

First off, Ms. Nancy is a fraud. You know it, and I know it. Her net worth, based on her speaker's salary as well as her days in Congress not as Speaker, is close to $70M. Nice gig! How is that salary going to work in with the Green New Deal? Plus she lives in a multi-million dollar mansion in the Bay Area. Huh? That's not fair! What about income re-distribution? Socialism? Fairness for the proletariat? And does she have a fence or a wall protecting her home? When she says a southern border wall would be "immoral"? How about armed protection? When she hates gun ownership so much. No - Ms. Nancy is a piece of work. You can see her picture when you look up "limousine liberal".

She is also very long in the tooth. Old enough to be the grandma or great grandma to these twenty something "young Turks" who are now infesting her turf. Because of the age difference, as well as economic differences (Ms. Nancy loves her money), there is a whole lot of trouble brewing in her caucus. And with this latest stink bomb she lobbed in there, the in-fighting could reach a fever pitch.

In reality, the ONLY reason she is not going after the President via impeachment is she knows it is a loser. First - no case. If there was, Mueller and Schiff would have found it long ago. Second - popularity. The country remains strongly divided on Donald Trump. His supporters are resolute and strong. To go after this President only because he beat the esteemed Hillary in 2016, could or would lead to an insurrection. And dumb as she can be, Ms. Nancy is smart enough to figure that one out.

Of course, the Republican's are still steamed at her for her backing of H.R. 1 - "For the People's Act". This piece of trash, which has zero chance of making it through the Senate and even less of a chance of the President signing it, is a good reminder of what would have happened if Hillary won the election and the Dems took the Senate. We would be having illegals voting in our country. After investigating the President for two years now, to see if he allowed foreign interference in our 2016 election, Ms. Pelosi just championed a bill which would allow foreigners to vote in every election. 

All this being said, with Ms. Nancy holding the gavel, none of the people's business (the Trump Agenda) is going to get done until at least 2020. If the Republicans do not take back the House, it will be even longer. Ms. Nancy may be good fodder for Republican fund raising, but she is poison for the country. So, which witch is which when it comes to Ms. Nancy? Depends on the day. 

Had you butt kicked as of late?

"Anyhow, it is March now, and the next election is only 20 short months away. With the stakes being as high as they are, it will be interesting to see how the MN GOP responds."

Let's face it. No lipstick on the pig please. Only the unvarnished truth. In the last election, we lost the Congress. Not only lost it, but it went into the hands of some real nut balls. Don't believe me? Let me put Maxine Waters as exhibit "A" to that claim. And I could name a whole lot more.

In Minnesota, we really got taken to the cleaners. Every statewide office we lost. Lost to misfits like Tim Walz and Keith Ellison. We lost both Senate races - one to an abortionist. We lost CD 2 and CD 3. We did not pick up CD 7 (the most Republican part of the state), and we lost the House. We are hanging on by our fingertips right now, having only a very slim lead in the Senate.

2020 is looming right around the corner. What is our new strategy to win this time around? There are no contested statewide offices, but every House seat and Senate seat will be in play. If we can't retake the House and lose the Senate, it is the ball game. Tim the Taxer Walz will then have unfettered access to your wallet. Right now, it appears the only strategy we have to ensure that does not happen, is the Democrats suck more than we do. I might be mistaken, but I don't see much else in the works.

If we don't shake things up (like a whole bunch), my fear is we are going to walk the same path as in 2018. Here are some of my thoughts:

Leadership - This is nothing personal. When I was working on a very large proposal at a former company, the team worked tirelessly to get a win. Nobody worked harder than the Proposal Manager. Once we lost, this fine man who gave it his all, was shown the door. One day I asked one of the execs why this man had to go. "At this company we pay for results, not effort." We need an entirely new leadership team at MN GOP. Like I say - nothing personal.

Money - The party of big cigars and deep pockets became the party of parsimonious peasants in 2018. The Democrats out did us by a factor of 10 or better. If we can't re-energize the donor class in 2020, it will be a very rocky road to victory. Whatever the Democrats did, we need to not only imitate it, but emulate it as well.

Weed - I am not in favor of the legalization of recreational weed, but I am also a realist. More and more states are addressing this issue, and we need to also. If we say no to weed, I am afraid we might lose the underpinnings of some of our younger members, as well as the youth in the general population. 

Message - Our message is solid - not sexy, put solid. I know, I know - it is hard to compete with Santa Clause. But our message should not change, other than to shine it up a bit. Democrats sell lies - we sell opportunity.

Taxes - Now that more and more national publications are pointing out that Minnesota is either in the top tier, or the number one tax unfriendly state, we need to hammer that issue home to the general population. Tax and spend is cool if it is others who are getting stuck with it. People need to know all the negative consequences of living in a high tax state. And older folks in either party should want their Social Security tax free.

Illegal Immigration - Some may want to duck and cover on this issue, but when you get out of the metro, this is a huge issue. Like a red hot issue. We need to stay in favor of legal immigration and dead set against illegal immigration. Period. 

Anyhow, it is March now, and the next election is only 20 short months away. With the stakes being as high as they are, it will be interesting to see how the MN GOP responds. I am sure most of us remember what the definition of insanity is. Let's hope MN GOP does also.   

Paralyzed by fear...

"You can't govern by fear. If we could, we would ask Winston Churchill. Just remember this - if not for a Republican Senate and Donald Trump, the country would be in great peril right now. And if now for one or two Republican Senators in Minnesota, it would be game over." 

Believe it or not, today's hometown newspaper's op/ed section, the editors really blasted our new Governor. Why? His disastrous flip flop on the Enbridge Line Three Oil Pipeline. Oh, you mean the one he promised to have built if elected? The one he promised to the union workers who would build it? The one which is fifty years old, and in such need of replacement, it can only be run at 50% capacity? That is the one. Walz was all gung-ho until the Sierra Club twisted his pinkie about it. Now he has put it on hold for a year, so it can be "studied" some more. Gag me with a spoon.

What is the result of that flip flop? For the next year, thousands of high paying union jobs to build this new pipeline will go empty. Ouch Timmy! Oil will continue to flow at a reduced rate in a very risky pipeline. More oil will need to be transported via rail - another risky venue.

Wait a minute! This are valid concerns! There was simply no good reason to put this new pipeline on hold for yet another year! Oh, yes there is! Fear. Deer in the headlights fear. Governor Tim "Rocks and Cows" Walz is scared s**tless. Why? Special interests. He is all tied up in the dystopian world of PC madness.

The Walz pipeline issue should be exhibit "A" to make my case about Democrats. The case they can't govern, because they are beholden to their special interests. Beholden to such a degree, NOTHING relevant ever gets done (unless you count the disaster known as ObamaCare). Ever. I was going to make old "Rocks and Cows" Exhibit "A", but it seems that Ms. Nancy has already grabbed that honor. So "Tim the Taxer" will have be Exhibit "B".

This last week, was the beginning of the end for this feckless Speaker of the House. This woman who is old enough to be Omar's grandmother, got played like a finely tuned violin. Instead of renouncing this young twerp from Minneapolis, she instead concocted an "omnibus" anti-hate resolution. One which denounces hate against Jews, Muslims, Blacks, Gays, Martians, and liver and onions. It covered absolutely everything. After this PC piece of garbage passed using a whole lot of fear as the catalyst, Omar walked away giving high fives her supporters. She successfully cowed the old gal who is running the joint.

Wait just a minute! Cowed Ms. Nancy? She has been around before dirt was invented. She is a great parlor negotiator (some say). How in the world could she have been bested? Fear. Scared s**tless by this little Muslim. Why? With this flood of refugees we are letting in, the Muslims are a new Democrat stronghold for votes. There is NO WAY Ms. Nancy wanted to be the one tagged with screwing this one up!

So here we stand folks. Thanks to way too many "Republicans" staying home this past election, we now have our Congress and the State of Minnesota being run by scared rabbits.

You can't govern by fear. If we could, we would ask Winston Churchill. Just remember this - if not for a Republican Senate and Donald Trump, the country would be in great peril right now. And if now for one or two Republican Senators in Minnesota, it would be game over. 

What am I saying? Elections REALLY count folks. We are hanging on my our fingertips right now. When I say the republic is at stake, I am not talking trash - I am talking truth.   

Playing or being played by the Norks?

"Next step? To use the President's own words, 'We will see what happens.' Opportunities abound for this primitive country. Good things could be in the offing. Or - could be more of the same."

I am going to give the President very high marks on his efforts to bring this ancient dynasty into the 21st century. As the old wild west statement goes - "It ain't easy, you know!" No, it certainly is not. The North Korean government is a nasty bunch of brutal dictators, who make lousy neighbors. But Donald Trump is convinced that by playing nice with these guys, holding out a huge carrot instead of a sharp stick, might bring them around. So far the progress as been just north of a "meh".

The plan was good for the first two meetings. Fly halfway around the world to meet Kim in Malaysia and then Viet Nam. Two countries with bustling economies. Offer Kim a basket full of goodies once he has de-nuked. If nothing else came out of these talks, we got the remains of some of our fallen back, and the missile and nuke tests stopped. It really did look like we were on the road to improvement.

Then the way the Viet Nam talks ended. For a negotiator, this was only a pause in the process. Happens all the times in the bigger deals. For the neophytes, it was disaster. The talks collapsed. Now the Norks are going to restart their nuke and missile tests. We are right back to square one. Or are we?

Here is my take. Kim is a "man-child". He is the product of a brutal father, and just as brutal grandfather. Despotism is all he knows. Truthfully - his world view is the polar opposite of our President's. When Donald Trump offers Kim peace and opportunity, Kim can see only fear. Fear that his reign of terror in North Korea might be the last for his bloodline. And the way he has mistreated his population, his fear is justified. I am sure many in North Korea have fantasies of putting Kim in front of anti-aircraft guns and having him chewed to pieces - like he has done to his political enemies.

What is our posture going to be if Kim lights off another missile? Or if he reactivates one of his nuke sites? I would then love to see the President withdraw the carrot and show Kim the "stick" like he has never seen it before. We recently canceled our joint military exercises with the South, as Kim has found them offensive. I would conduct the biggest, baddest joint exercise in the history of our partnership with the South. 

There are many other things we could do to tighten the screws further. Not our choice to do so, but Donald Trump needs to behavior modify this "man-child". How do I see Kim? Not the same way our President does. While Donald Trump has been blowing sunshine on this little rocket man, I would rather see him arrested as a world criminal and then tried at the Hague. Some the atrocities he has committed against his own people are simply too graphic to put in this article. He is a Saddam Hussein on steroids. 

Next step? To use the President's own words, "We will see what happens." Opportunities abound for this primitive country. Good things could be in the offing. Or - could be more of the same. Time for the "man-child" to grow up and smell the coffee. If he screws this up, the only thing he will be smelling is the further decay of his country.   

Her never ending fifteen minutes...

"Time to pop some more popcorn and watch the show from the wonderful world of Minnesota's 5th. Watching Omar act up on a national stage gives me one more reason to be thankful I live in Minnesota's 6th. If only Minnesota's 6th was a state instead of a district..."

I think if I took a poll of all the patriots and citizens of this country, asking how many were SICK TO DEATH of this Omar from Minnesota's 5th, the show of hands might just be unanimous. MOST Freshmen, be it a state assembly or the United States Congress, are all told the same things by their coaches. "You have been given two ears and one mouth - remember that ratio." Or the Will Rogers saying, "Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.". Not Omar. Not by a country mile.

For us conservatives, she is the gift which keeps on giving. For the President, she and AOC are exhibits "A" and "B" on how unhinged the Left has become. For the establishment Democrats, she is a pain in the drain. Big time pain. For the Jewish coalition within the Democrat Party, she has been an eye opener. A reminder that Jews and Muslims get along as well as oil and water. What she has been saying as of late, might have many Democrat Jews running to their cars to rip off their "COEXIST" bumper stickers.

All this being said, this one tiny woman from Africa, with very little education, has managed to get the Democrats all tied up in knots. It took Ms. Nancy down a few pegs when she was coming up with her "anti-hate" resolution. When it was finished, it sounded like something which would be chanted at a Kumbaya party, instead of a Congressional resolution. Did that shut up Omar? Hell no! Now she is going after the most revered Barack Hussein Obama. Why Obama? Drone strikes on Muslims. Remember - Omar still plays for the other side. 

Except for the Cedar Riverside community (and the Loons on the Minneapolis City Council), every time this woman talks, it must be like nails on the chalkboard for those who live in the 5th. But we must remember the old computer saying - WYSIWYG. That is "what you see is what you get". The good people of the 5th knew she was light years away from being ready for prime time. But who cares? The PC bug bit them hard. After having Keith Ellison (a converted Muslim), now they could have the real thing! And she would wear that towel on her head to show America how diverse we are in this state! Wa Hoo!

All I know is this. The 1st District, the 8th District, and my home district (the 6th), are doing fine thank you. We have normal people who know when to talk, and when they do talk, they say something germane and important. My gosh, even Betty from the wacky 4th District had to slap Omar down a bit. And Dean Phillips - he does not know what to say. She has put him in a PC pickle. 

Me? Time to pop some more popcorn and watch the show from the wonderful world of Minnesota's 5th. Watching Omar act up on a national stage gives me one more reason to be thankful I live in Minnesota's 6th. If only Minnesota's 6th was a state instead of a district...

He is a Mr. Rogers, not a Mr. Fixit...

"Minnesota, you elected an idiot and a lemon. Not only a lemon, but an expensive one at that. This year the table was set for a newer better government in this state. Our first conservative Governor in just about forever. Instead, as the picture above shows, we now have our own version of AOC."

I still like to read the op/ed page in the local rag some call a newspaper. Gives me a feel for the "pulse" of the state. Usually, I am very dismayed and/or disappointed after reading it. Today however, was an interesting article, penned by someone whose name I did not recognize. It was about our esteemed carpet bagger Governor. The one who likes to be looked at as a kindly gentleman, a former school teacher, and retired Sargent in the National Guard. In other words, he thinks he is kind of a Mr. Rogers. 

Well, this article laid the wood to our Mr. Rogers. Said his budget was just more of the same from Democrats. About as clever and innovative as tuna casserole three nights in a row. Tax and spend, tax and spend. Period. Anybody else see something different? I know I have not. What was missing from this new budget from a new Governor? INNOVATION!!! CHANGE!!! BETTER FOR LESS, NOT STATUS QUO FOR MORE!! Jeepers Creepers, where in the world did we get this guy?

A side note before I continue to lay the wood to this poser we call Governor. A high school friend from way down south sent me an article this morning which lists the 50 states by misery of winter. As no surprise, Hawaii was the best state, and Minnesota was the worst. We even beat out North Dakota. That article comes right on the heels of a CBS poll which shows Minnesota to be the least tax friendly state. So let's get this straight. We live in a state, known for having the worst winters and the highest taxes. What does our Mr. Rogers want to do to make it better? Like any socialist democrat worth his or her salt - raise taxes (again).

Back to the article. The budget with no glimmer of hope. No new ideas. Some know I was on Jeff Johnson's team this past election. I was not on Jeff's team because he is a nice guy. I was not on Jeff's team because he and I are friends. I was on his team because Jeff Johnson had a fountain of ideas how to make government work better for less. Not just a few ideas, but a blizzard of ideas. In other words, Jeff Johnson would not have been a Mr. Rogers for Minnesota, he would have been a Mr. Fixit.

But that scenario now only exists in the land of "never happen". The minions fell for the "feel good" promises of Tim Walz. Now we are stuck. The broken parts of our government will stay broken. Pour good money after bad. Want an example? Walz thinks extending the North Star up to St. Cloud is a "good idea". Really Mr. Rogers? This heavily subsidized rail line which few people ride - make it longer?

And then there is the Line Three fiasco. Since Mr. Rogers still worships at the feet of special interests, instead of providing thousands of jobs in northern Minnesota to replace an old worn out pipe line, Mr. "No Imagination" put it on hold. Instead of a new pipe line, we will have more and more oil trains rumbling through the metro area.

Minnesota, you elected an idiot and a lemon. Not only a lemon, but an expensive one at that. This year the table was set for a newer better government in this state. Our first conservative Governor in just about forever. Instead, as the picture above shows, we have our own version of AOC. Lord, help us make it though the reign of Mr. Rogers.